University of Novi Sad [UNS]

Organization:
UNS is the leading academic institution in Serbia. It coordinates or participates in the large number of international research projects, including FP and Eureka. The BioSense Center at UNS is a multidisciplinary research center devoted to application of information and communication technologies in agriculture, forestry, ecology and Earth observation, recognized as the regional leader in research as well as in coordination and capacity building.

Main tasks:
Co-lead of WP10

Experience:
The BioSense Center at UNS covers following EO-related research fields: Remote Sensing, Wireless Sensor Networks, geo-referenced databases and GIS, knowledge discovery, microelectronics (sensor design), microwave engineering (radars and radiometers), freshwater and terrestrial ecology, environmental engineering, agriculture and forestry. The Center has developed several WSN-based monitoring pilot sites with fully web-accessible data (urban, forests, open fields). Remote sensing is used based on UAV-mounted color, multispectral, hyperspectral and thermal cameras, to detect and map canopy density, unplanted areas, micro-relief, etc. Satelite-imaging-based solutions include detection of field crops, flooded areas etc. The Center also focuses at the storage, retrieval and processing of data acquired from multimodal sensors and human experts, and to research in data mining and knowledge discovery techniques needed to extract useful information from large quantities of data.

FP7 ENORASIS: Environmental Optimization of Irrigation Management with the Combined Use and Integration of High Precision Satellite Data, Advanced Modeling, Process Control and Business Innovation, 2012-2014

Prof. Dr Vesna Crnojević-Bengin. Associate professor of electronics and microwave engineering at UNS, co-founder of the BioSense Center. Point of Contact for GEO ID-04-C2: Outreach and Awareness Raising. Coordinator of two FP7 and two EUREKA! research projects, participant in many international, regional and national projects. Head of Topical Group MAGEO (Microwaves for agriculture, environment and Earth observation) within the European Microwave Association. Member of the Board of Directors of the Innovation Fund, founded by the Serbian Ministry of Science and Technological Development. Authored or co-authored more than 70 conference and journal papers and two books. Associated Editor of IJE by Taylor & Francis, reviewer for some of the most eminent journals in the field.

Prof. Dr Vladimir Crnojević. Associate professor of communications and signal processing, director of the BioSense Center. Coordinator of FP7 BalkanGEONet project and several other FP7, EUREKA! and national projects in the field. Main research interests: application of WSN and RS to precision agriculture, image processing and pattern recognition field. Reviewer for some of the most eminent journals in the field. Authored more than 50 scientific papers, one US and one European patent.

Third-party Institution of University of Novi Sad: University of Split (Croatia)

Organisation:
The University of Split (UoS) was founded in 1974 (http://www.unist.hr) and today is a second largest university in the Croatia, with 25 000 students and 1200 teaching/research staff. In the UoS there are 16 faculties in all fields of science.
Task in EOPOWER: UoS will be involved in Work package 10. As one of the major partners in FP7 BalkanGEONet, UoS was involved in the development of Permanent Networking Facility (PNF) together with UNS. The Permanent Networking Facility (PNF) is maintained at two dual-servers, one in Novi Sad, Serbia, maintained by UNS, and the other one in Split, Croatia, maintained by UoS. As a Third-party in EOPOWER, UoS will support the technical implementation of task T10.2, consisting of development of software tools for its sub-tasks related to linking the PNF with the Capacity building web and to technical maintenance and development of PNF. The purpose of this IT-support work by UoS is to:
a) Maintain PNF on a dual-server in Split;
b) Create technical links between PNF with the Capacity building web in an agreed format;
c) Technically develop PNF in an agreed direction, e.g. create registration tools, tools for
tracking of incoming inquiries, etc.
The workload for UoS corresponds to 2.1 person-months.

Experience:

Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Geodesy (FCEAG) is one of 16 faculties at the University of Split. FCEAG has comprehensive experience in planning and implementation of integrated water resources management systems, coastal zone monitoring and development of a wide range of technical reports in the sector of environmental infrastructure development. Key personnel from the FCEAG has experience in leading and coordinating program development for the environmental master planning for coastal zone management including trans‐boundary pollution problems and implementation of different EU Directives.
Some relevant projects:

Pilot Project on Climate Change Adaptation Building the Link between Flood Risk Management Planning and Climate Change Assessment in the Sava River Basin; project financed by UNECE through the International Sava River Basin Commission;

Monitoring System of Hrvatske Vode Laboratory, Licensed Laboratories and MWCS HV 04/07, HVJP 08/07, World bank financed project for developing Monitoring program for the Adriatic Sea coastline and assessing the impacts from the first phase of implementing the coastal waste water treatment facilities;

Pilot river basin plan for the Sava river basin, EU-CARDS project, Responsible for facilitating the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD);

Integrated Ecosystem Management of the Neretva and Trebisjnica River Basin, GEF (Global Environment Facility) program implemented by World Bank.

Staff members:

Dr. Roko Andricevic, professor in civil and environmental engineering. Holds Ph.D. from the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, University of Minnesota, USA, (1988). Visiting scientist at the Stanford University, 1987-1988. Full prof. at the Univ. of Nevada Systems in Las Vegas and Reno. From 2002 until 2004 Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Physical Planning in the Government of Croatia. Since 2008, the Vice- rector for science and international relations at UoS. Responsible/Principal Investigator of 20 research projects, financed by national, European or international sources. Authored one book and 40+ publications in international journals.

Dr. Snjezana Knezic , professor in civil and environmental engineering. Holds PhD. in Civil Engineering (1998, University of Split), full Prof. at UoS, Vice-dean for research at FCEAG (2006-2010). Research interest: multicriteria decision making, development of decision support systems, (GIS, MCDM, etc.) for environmental issues, urban and coastal management, water resources management, etc. Authored 50+ papers. Researcher in 10+ international and national projects. Principal investigator in 2 national projects. Director for Membership & SIGs in The Int. Emergency Management Association.